destroy
pronunciation
How to pronounce destroy in British English:
UK [dɪˈstrɔɪ]
How to pronounce destroy in American English:
US [dɪˈstrɔɪ]
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- Verb:
- do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of
- destroy completely; damage irreparably
- defeat soundly
- as of animals
Word Origin
- destroy
- destroy: [13] As in the case of demolish, to destroy something is almost literally to ‘unbuild’ it. The word comes via Old French destruire from *dēstrūgere, a Vulgar Latin alteration of Latin dēstrūere. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix dē-, denoting reversal of a previous state, and strūere ‘pile up, build’ (source of English construct and structure). Its past participle, dēstructus, has produced English destruction [14], destructive [15], and the verb destruct (recorded once in the 17th century but revived in the 1950s by backformation from destruction).=> construct, destruction, structure
- destroy (v.)
- early 13c., from Old French destruire (12c., Modern French détruire) "destroy, ravage, lay waste," from Vulgar Latin *destrugere (source of Italian distruggere), refashioned (influenced by destructus), from Latin destruere "tear down, demolish," literally "un-build," from de- "un-, down" (see de-) + struere "to pile, build" (see structure (n.)). Related: Destroyed; destroying.
Example
- 1. Every breath you take will eventually destroy your future .
- 2. I 'm going to destroy android because it 's a stolen product .
- 3. Would kraft destroy cadbury 's ethical heritage ?
- 4. They destroy all outside authority and civil society .
- 5. The adaptive system 's t and b cells produce antibodies and killer cells that destroy infected cells .